Inquiries and Misgivings
by Crystal di Angelo
Summary: Fourth part of the Salty Ice Crystals Series. Loki is ill with an unknown disease and Odin places his kingdom before his family. Thor seeks the Avengers for help.
1. A Hole Collection

_Salty Ice Crystals_

_**Inquiries and Misgivings**_

_**Chapter 1: A Hole Collection**_

"Father, this is Loki's life at stake!" Thor argued, Mjolnir resting on the floor beside him as he knelt before the Allfather.

"And this is the fate of the Nine Realms at stake." Odin countered, rubbing his eyes softly. "Forgive me, my son, but we do not know whether this is all a scheme of Loki's or not. I am a king as well as a father, and sometimes I have to act in favor of the realm, whether I like it or not."

"Loki is weakened-"

"Which may be just a play to get your sympathy."

"He would not have fooled Mother."

"If Loki is truly beyond redemption, he would not have cared about what the Queen would think."

"Are you doubting my ability to recognize an illness when I see one?" Frigga stepped into the audience chamber, sweeping into a low curtsey before standing straight before Odin again. Their places were equal in name, after all.

"I do not doubt your abilities, but I am confident in Loki's ability of using one's emotions and sentiments against him or her." Odin said. "The Tesseract is powerful, and I am not letting Loki near it until I am positive that he really needs it. You will have to present proof before me."

"What proof?"

Odin waved a hand dismissively. "Whatever genuine that you can get your hands on."

"Father." Thor said, rising from his place. "Would what the Midgardians call blood samples be sufficient?"

Odin stroked his beard for a moment, calling upon his knowledge of 'blood samples'. After a moment, he gave his answer. "Yes." He said. "For science never lies."

And Thor was out of the room before they could blink.

Thor rode towards the newly repaired Bifrost. He was going to be the proud first user of the improved and fixed Bifrost, but he didn't care. He urged his horse forward, reining it in and skidding to a stop, vaulting off the horse as soon as it was slow enough. "Heimdall, I have need of the Bifrost!"

"Where to?"

"Midgard."

"As always." Heimdall chuckled. "Paying a visit to your lady friend? Or is there an ultimate purpose?"

Thor smiled. "You see all, Heimdall. You have no need to act otherwise. I know that you already know the answers to the questions you ask."

"True." Heimdall slid his sword in, opening the Bifrost. "And I know that you have permission _this_ time."

Thor grinned sheepishly before passing through the realms in a flurry of rainbow light. In a few seconds, he was already landing on the Bifrost site in Midgard without any side effects. Quickly and determinedly, Thor swung Mjolnir and set his course for the most prominent tower in sight, almost even with the skyline-Stark Tower.

"Anthony Stark!"

Tony cringed, ducking behind a lab table. Whenever Pepper used his full name like that, it usually meant trouble. Bruce looked at him, amused before returning to his work. He did feel a little pity for Tony though, so he told Pepper just as she was about to come through the door, "Peps, I think it would be better if you don't come in here. There's radiation and chemicals and we still don't know whether it is safe to be exposed to normal humans-"

"I _know_ Tony told you to say that!" Pepper fumed. "Jarvis, open the door!"

"Certainly, ma'am."

The glass door slid open. Tony gave a muffled wail. "When did Pepper's orders start to override mine? Jarvis, not fair, you can't play favorites!"

Jarvis went a step further to annoy and play an indirect part in his murder. "Miss Potts, Mr. Stark is currently under the lab table on the far left. Please do not knock over the acid."

Pepper stormed over to the table and dragged Tony out by the ear, Tony still cursing Jarvis and swearing to update his software later so he wouldn't take orders from anyone _but_ Tony himself. Of course, he'd sworn that a thousand times before, but never really got around to it.

"Anthony Stark, I know that you collect a hell _lot_ of things, the art collection is still hanging in the wall and all the different car models are still parked in the garage, but can you seriously not start a new one so soon?! Especially a one that's so crazy!"

"What?" Tony asked, annoyed. "What collection did I start this time? And didn't I donate the art collection to…I dunno, someone?"

Pepper sighed in exasperation. "You _said_ that you would donate your vase collection, not the art collection. And seriously, starting a _hole_ collection?"

Tony looked horrified. "Wait, I donated the _vases_? I quite liked them!"

"Tony!"

"Okay, fine." Tony sighed. "And that isn't even near a collection, that's just _one_ measly hole to record the greatest event in history-the Hulk's smashing of the weirdest super-villain ever in history! Kids after a few hundred years would come here and say, 'Wow, how awesome is this? The coolest ever Iron Man actually preserved it for us!' Now, isn't that nice?"

"_Two_ holes, Tony."

Tony blinked. "Now, where's the other one?"

"A Mjolnir shaped one. I bet you told Thor to smash it down on the roof when you were drunk, didn't you?"

Tony scratched his head sheepishly. "Well, I usually don't remember what I did while I was drunk, so you'd have to go to Asgard and ask Thor for confirmation. Wanna me to fly you up there?"

Pepper rolled her eyes and turned to leave. "No thanks."

Tony ran after her. "Wait, I want to see this awesome hole! Don't fill it with cement yet!"

Pepper entered the elevator, Tony dogging her footsteps.

When they arrived at the top floor, Tony was flabbergasted. He was sure that he would never have forgotten something like this. It was not a Mjolnir sized hole, but a Thor-sized hole on the wall too. Debris and dust was scattered everywhere on the floor. Dust rose with every step and Tony sneezed.

A figure rose from the swirling dust. Tony tensed, pushing Pepper behind him and snapping a bracelet on his wrist. He had taken to bringing them everywhere in his pocket since Loki had paid a visit.

Then Tony almost had the life squeezed out of him and his eardrums burst as someone hugged him tightly, yelling, "Greetings, friend Stark!"

"Nice to meet you too." Tony muttered, choking, Thor released him and looked around the room. "My deepest apologies, friend Stark. I appear to have miscalculated the speed and slammed into your glorious building at full speed. I threw Mjolnir away from me to slow myself down but it slammed into your tower and I had to call it back to me and I smashed into your tower as well."

"Pepper!" Tony exclaimed triumphantly. "Did you hear that?"

Pepper ignored him. "Thor, would you like some Pop Tarts? You can have Tony's entire stock, if you like."

"Hey!" Tony protested.

"Thank you, Lady Potts, but I have urgent matters to attend to." He turned to Tony. "Is the good doctor here?"

"Bruce? 'course, he's my science buddy, after all. He's in the lab. Come on, and don't knock anything over. Better yet, don't touch anything."

"Doctor Banner!" Was Thor's first words as he entered the lab, the force of his voice so great that a few test tubes toppled over and Tony muttered, 'Shit' before flying in to save his work. So much for warning Thor not to touch anything.

Bruce looked up. "Oh, hey, Thor. What can I do for you?"

"I need you to give me all the equipment needed to take a blood sample and to teach me how as fast as you can. I fear Loki's life hangs in the balance."

"Reindeer Games?" Tony muttered, carefully storing the precious few drops that were left in a drawer. "What are you doing trying to save him?"

Thor started forward, eyes blazing, knocking over another table. Tony covered his eyes and groaned.

"You will do well to know that he is my brother." Thor rumbled as Bruce started to lead him out of the lab. "Calm down, big guy. I will teach you. Don't mind Tony, he's being a jerk as usual."

"_Hey_!"

Bruce shot Tony a warning look that meant, 'You'd better make yourself invisible right now or god help me, I'm going to help Thor kill you.'

Tony shut up.

"So, you want to learn how to take a blood sample?" Bruce asked in a calm air, pushing up his spectacles.

Thor nodded eagerly.

"Well, you can give me the details when you get back from Asgard next time, since you're in such a hurry. Come on. And you can use Tony as a test subject."

"_HEY!_"

Bruce shot Tony a death glare though he couldn't help the corners of his mouth tilting up a little.

"Let's go then, big guy."

After lessons and demonstrations that Thor seemed that he at least tried to pay attention to, Bruce gave Thor the go ahead to try a hand at it. After fumbling a little to get his large fingers in the right position so that he won't break the needle-which suddenly looked very small and fragile in Thor's hands-he inserted it into Tony's wrist.

Forget the small and fragile part. It certainly _hurt_.

"Oww!" Tony yelled, practically jumping off his chair and dancing around the room. He yanked the needle out and cradled his wrist close like it was some baby. "Just because I'm the white mouse doesn't mean that you have to torture me!"

"We have to torture you because you're Tony." Pepper walked in just then.

Tony glared. "Not fair!" He howled. "Just because I'm a billionaire playboy-"

"Yeah yeah, don't start with that rant again." Bruce interjected. "Thor, ready for the second shot?"

And Iron Man, who saved the Earth and survived countless dangers, promptly fainted.

In the end, Bruce had sighed and wrote a list of instructions for Queen Frigga on Asgard, hoping that Thor hadn't inherited his hands from her. Thor reassured them that she was as gentle as a queen could be, and since they didn't know how Asgard defined 'gentle' they hoped it would have to be enough.

"I cannot thank you more, my friends." Thor said deeply as he stood at the Bifrost site. "Man of Iron, you have achieved a great feat."

"Oh yeah?" Tony said, still weakly rubbing his arm. "Well, it'd better be worth it then."

"It will be." Thor promised just as rainbow light shot down and Thor disappeared, leaving Tony and Bruce to stare at the sky.

Finally, Tony uttered, "They really love drama, don't they?"


	2. The Proof

_**Guys, you may or may not have heard of the plane MH370, but it is a plane of Malaysian airlines that just…disappeared off the radar at 2.40 a.m. in the morning. There are (I absolutely refuse to use the past tense, there's still hope!) 227 citizens on that plane, including 2 innocent babies, 12 crew. It is now Day 10 of the search here, and there still has been no sign, though rumors are circulating around like mad. Just…add your hope, and pray along with us. It may make all the difference in the world. The family members are exhausted and are despairing. **_

_**It may have been hijacked. It may have crashed. We do not know.**_

_**All we know is that we can only pray. And hope.**_

_**Here's Chapter Two.**_

* * *

_Salty Ice Crystals_

_Inquiries and Misgivings_

_Chapter Two: The Proof_

* * *

Frigga turned out to be a quick learner, and withdrew the blood quickly and painlessly from a slumbering Loki. He did not need to know that the Allfather had required for this to be done before Loki could go anywhere for help. Loki would take it as mistrust.

Midgard was going to be his first destination, since the Avengers would need to run tests on him and take samples of his body and create a model to test how it reacted with their weapons, particularly Agent Phil Coulson's. It had been untested until it had been used on Loki, and no one would know until Odin Borson finally stopped being so damned _stubborn_ and finally let Loki travel to Midgard along with his brother. Thor was going to be chaperoning Loki anyway, so what Odin feared she did not know, nor understand. But she would not confront him about it. She did not really see as far as he did for the kingdom and knew better than to question his decisions, except to find a way around them.

"Quickly, travel to Midgard, run the test and get the results as fast as possible." She told Thor. Thor took the small vial of bright red blood (Loki's lifeblood) and nodded, though his gaze strayed to the prone form on the bed.

Frigga guessed what he was thinking. No one knew a man as well as his own mother, after all. "Go. Loki will be safe. Do you not trust your mother?"

And Thor went.

* * *

"Back so soon?" Tony asked incredulously. They'd just finished taking samples of the soil to test whether they had reactive substances to the power of the Bifrost, turned their backs on the site, chatted for a while leaning on the car, got in it, drove a mile away before spotting storm clouds gathering and shot back again, not wanting Thor to crash through his tower again with Mjolnir if he attempted to fly there again. For heaven's sake, the construction workers just got there!

"Yes, friend Stark. My Mother is truly wonderful. She understood the good doctor's instructions immediately and had the blood drawn without any delay. Here it is, a full vial. We did not know how much you require and skilled as my mother is, I do not wish to put Loki through the ordeal the Man of Iron experienced more than necessary."

"So you don't want him to be injected more than necessary but you were more than willing to use me as a test subject." Tony grumbled good-naturedly.

"I am sorry if I have offended you, friend Stark. But it was necessary and your life does not hang in the balance." Thor offered.

"_My _life doesn't hang on the balance?" Tony retorted. "Well, what about the piece of shrapnel that is constantly trying to force its way into my heart with only the arc reactor stopping it then?"

The silence in the car while driving back to the tower was, well, awkward.

The tests were run, and the results handed to an impatient Thor in less than twelve hours. "Here. Hope that this Allfather can understand them." Tony quipped, grinning.

"He will. Blind he may be in the matters of family, but he is well-versed in the ways of all creatures." Thor reassured them, grabbing the papers.

"So even you admit that. Good job." Tony grinned as Bruce chuckled. Steve walked in just then, having done his usual rounds of interviews to reassure the public that no, the Avengers won't be a threat to them. And after seeing their beloved Captain America, the hero of the World War II there, their trust levels were reasonably higher.

"Thor?" Steve looked reasonably alarmed. After all, he still didn't know that the Bifrost had been fixed yet and Thor's visits were incredibly scarce. "Has something happened?"

"Loki is the cause of my visit here, Captain of America."

Tony grinned inwardly. Thor's wording couldn't have been more misleading.

"What?" The good Captain's eyes almost bogged out. "Has he escaped from Asgard?"

"Nay," Thor quickly amended. "He has taken to his bed and is ailing. We fear it may be from one of your countless weapons you used on my brother, but the Allfather would not give him leave to travel, for fear that-"

"That traveling won't agree with him?" Steve asked.

Thor shook his head. "No, for fear that Loki may be faking. He demands proof. Mother has given her word but he still needs us to do a blood test to prove that Loki is truly sick enough to require help."

"Oh."

"Aye."

Bruce was the one to push Thor back towards the Bifrost site. "Now, I thought you were the one that was in such a hurry to get back to your brother? Go on. We can catch up on each other later." He may have been feeling guilt for what the Hulk had done to Thor's younger and uncontrollable brother, and held a civil attitude towards Loki's temperament. Thor smiled and barely got the words, "Heimdall! Open the Bifrost!" out before the stream of rainbow light took Thor away.

Tony looked on at awe. Then,

"Jarvis, I'm so disabling you if you didn't get that on film! Run the scans!"

"Yes, sir." Jarvis replied coolly as they got in the car again.

* * *

Thor hurried through the halls towards the throne room, meeting up with Frigga along the way. She put a finger on her lips to indicate that Loki was still resting, and Thor inclined his head, instinctively softening his footsteps. Together, they made their entrance into the throne room and bowed or curtsied before standing upright again.

Odin did not look surprised. "You have brought the proof." He stated simply.

"I have, Father." Thor handed the papers to Odin. Odin's one eye scanned them quickly, and finding no fault with them, sighed heavily and stood. "Very well. You have my permission to take Loki to Midgard and wherever you need to cure his illness as long as he is ailing. If he shows any signs of violence directed towards you or the Midgardians without being provoked, you are to bring him home immediately. Understood?"

"I hear and understand, Father." Thor was practically bouncing on the spot. He couldn't wait to get the formalities out of the way.

"You have my blessings."

Thor bowed and shot out of the room to retrieve Loki. Frigga had already anticipated the results of the test and had packed Loki's belongings and other necessities in a small, enchanted black bag. It was open on the bed and Thor stuffed a few of his own things inside before gently waking Loki.

"Brother. Awake. It is time."

Loki stirred and groaned. He wanted to stay in bed all day, and moving in the slightest would give him a pounding headache. Not to mention the cold. But if he wanted this predicament to end, he'd better get moving.

The dark haired prince swung himself up, sitting on the bed for a moment, dazed as he tried to blink the forming black spots and dizziness out of his eyes. Then Thor gripped his hands and yanked him upright. Loki leaned against the wall for a moment before finally getting his limbs to cooperate and followed Thor out of the healing rooms.

"Where…are we going?" Even his silver tongue felt slow. God, Loki was starting to be tired of this illness.

"To the stables, then the Bifrost. It has been fixed, and travel is much smoother." Thor grinned, though he slowed his pace so that Loki could catch up.

"Good." Loki didn't really feel like travelling with dark energy. The after effects are very unpleasant, and with Loki's current condition, it really didn't add up well.

Once at the stables, Thor selected a random white horse for himself. He'd always liked white horses, since it made him feel more heroic, and even after his time on Earth/Midgard, old habits die hard. Loki, however, was more critical and finally mounted a black stallion that snorted and stamped her hooves on the floor, ready to run.

"Race you to the Bifrost?" Loki questioned, his voice having a childish hint to it.

Thor smiled, even though he was worried that Loki might fall off. "Sure."

Loki spurred his horse onward and quickly overtook Thor's by a head. Only then did Thor discover that, heroic as she may look, but his chosen horse did not have the stamina to overtake Loki, even on a short ride to the Bifrost. Apparently this mare is out of exercise. So _that_ was how Loki always won the horse races between the two of them. Thor certainly had grown observant.

The wind raced by them and cooled Loki's feverish head a bit. Soon, he reined in his horse before smashing into a not very amused Heimdall. He inclined his head sheepishly before sliding off his horse smoothly, feeling his head spin as his feet hit the ground, almost toppling off the rainbow bridge. Thor reined in his own horse beside Loki and offered him a hand.

Loki hesitated, staring. Then he accepted the offer and pulled himself up from the ground, only wavering slightly.

Thor nodded at Heimdall. "Send us to Midgard."

"Are you sure this is wise?" Heimdall asked, his all-seeing eyes fixed on Thor's face.

Thor nodded determinedly.

"Go then." Heimdall slid the sword in and the Bifrost sucked the brothers in, sending them hurtling towards Midgard.


	3. Gamma Radiation

_Salty Ice Crystals_

_Inquiries and Misgivings_

_Chapter Three: Gamma Radiation_

* * *

"_Reports of activity in the skies have been brought to attention yesterday night. You may be expecting one of our most esteemed Avengers, but no." _The reporter paused, shuffling notes before pushing up his spectacles. _"Eyewitnesses have seen a man clad in green and silver enter a shop to buy something before another man came up, claiming the man to be his brother and ushered the first man out of the shop. We do not know whether this is a threat, but be prepared-it could be the self-claimed god that tried to destroy us a few weeks prior-Loki Odinson."_

Nicholas 'Nick' Fury groaned and smashed the television. Agent Phil Coulson, just passing by, raised an eyebrow at his boss's antics. "The news?"

"As always." Nick muttered. "What else?"

Agent Maria Hill fought back a grin, even though this was the third television they'd had to replace this week. "Is it Stark again?"

"I wish." Nick muttered as the microspeaker in his ear came to life. _Director Fury. Request for meeting. Urgent. Now. _"Gotta go. Keep an eye on Stark Tower."

"We already are, Director." Phil called after his retreating back to no avail. "Oh well…Agent Hill, get the Black Widow and Hawkeye over there. Might as well add extra security."

"Of course, Agent Coulson." Agent Hill said, whipping out her cell phone and dialing numbers so fast that her fingers were a blur. "On it."

"Agent Romanoff?"

_Yes?_ Natasha's voice crackled through the speaker. She sounded irritated. Gun blasts could be heard faintly, in the distance. _What is it? I'm kind of busy trying to hide right now._

"We will send agents to cover up for you. Fury wants you to go and cover Stark Tower." Maria nodded to two agents standing nearby, and they nodded before striding down the corridors and out of sight.

_You don't have to send agents. I've already got the information. _Natasha paused abruptly, ignoring Maria's remark of, "Fast as always. They'll be there only for transport then." _A moment._

Maria waited, hearing faint rustling of leaves and the crackling of branches. The gunfire faded. _Okay, I'm clear now. What did Stark do this time?_

"We are in the dark about that." Maria admitted reluctantly. As the second in command, there were very few things that Nick Fury kept from her, and her inquisitive nature naturally wasn't happy with that. "My best guess is something to do with Loki."

A sigh. _Again? I will be there soon._

The call was disconnected and Maria dialed Hawkeye's number.

* * *

Clint was actually enjoying himself for the first time in what felt like years. He was reclining on a couch, legs propped up on a table, a cup of hot coffee in his hand, his bow and arrows on a table nearby, the TV was on and he was watching a new Disney film called Frozen. He had to admit, the sisters were pretty hot. Nothing compared to Natasha, of course. This was the first holiday he had been able to wring out of S.H.I.E.L.D, and he fully intended to enjoy that.

The phone rang, and he jumped, spilling the coffee all over his pajamas. He yelped as it scalded him and hurried off to the bathroom to change, doing his best to ignore the phone.

When he came back, the phone was still ringing, much to his dismay. He muted the TV, which now showed the two of them singing the reprise of For the First Time in Forever. Pity he couldn't hear the music now.

He sighed and took the call.

"What is it?"

_Agent Barton! _Maria's voice was so loud that he almost winced. She wasn't yelling, but boy, her voice was _loud_. When she was mad. And that definitely wasn't a good thing.

"Wassup?" He tried a casual attitude, hoping that it would cool her down a bit. It did the exact opposite.

_So you were just lounging around and basically being just a useless waste of space? _She demanded. Clint winced. "Hey, people are supposed to do that on holidays."

A pause. Clint smirked. Obviously she'd forgotten all about his holiday. Then came her slightly sheepish voice. _Well, it's an emergency. _She explained lamely. _Director Fury just smashed his third television set this week._

Clint raised an eyebrow. "And that's supposed to count as an emergency?"

_Well, the reason for it is. I've only just watched the replay myself and it turns out that Loki may have returned with his brother. _

"Where do you want me to go?" Clint asked calmly, even though his heart gave a jolt at the name. And with his brother. He was so killing Thor when they meet.

_Stark Tower. Your transportation is waiting._

Clint snapped his phone shut and looked mournfully at the TV, unmuting it. It wouldn't hurt to watch at least a little bit, won't it?

"_But-I don't want to leave!" _Anna was saying. Clint agreed with her. He hadn't even gotten around to cleaning the armchair yet.

Elsa looked mournful. _"Yes, you are."_

Clint took that as his cue to leave and switched off the television, hearing a car horn beep from downstairs.

* * *

"Wow, big guy, that was…fast." Tony commented with a raised brow as Thor strode in the door. "But where's Loki?"

Thor blinked, looking behind him only to find that Loki had snuck away. "Brother, where are you?"

"I thought he was going to say 'Brother, where art thou?', but never mind." Tony muttered. "Loki really is trouble."

"Loki always said that he wanted to try out some of the food called 'spagheeti' on this planet…" Thor murmured. "Friend Stark, lead me to the closest place that sells that!"

Bruce stifled a laugh. So Loki did like some things on the place that he had tried to destroy. Tony gave a long suffering sigh and pointed at a small shop a few streets away. "There you are. Don't you dare smash the roof. I'm not paying for that."

Thor did follow his word and dragged Loki out of the store to a very alarmed shopkeeper, who dialed the police later. After all, even though no one was able to get Loki's face on screen in close quarters, his clothes were a dead giveaway.

"Loki." Thor rumbled. "You have given us great trouble."

Loki couldn't help but pout. "But I was hungry. And the spaghetti tasted really nice! I was planning on going for chicken chop for dinner."

Thor steered his brother gently back towards the tower. "I know you're sick, and acting like a child, but do not expect us to submit to your every whim. You are still a prisoner. Do not misuse your privileges."

Loki's face fell and a second later he wiped it blank. It was this expressionless face that the Avengers saw when they entered the tower after Thor had took him on a detour to get the mentioned 'chicken chop'. He'd put the cost on Tony's bill and managed with numerous directions and Loki's help with his smooth manners and silver tongue.

"So it _is_ Loki." Clint said drily, though his muscles were tensed, ready to attack at any moment. "No wonder Fury was in such a fury. Pardon the pun."

Loki's eyelids were drooping, even though he couldn't have been awake for 3 hours, and he barely registered the image of all the Avengers, minus Thor, standing there and glaring at him. Thor gently pushed Loki onto a couch. "My friends, my brother requires your help."

Natasha's eyebrow twitched. "Does Fury need to know about this? SHIELD may be able to offer the kind of help you need at a price."

"Nuh uh." Tony wagged a finger at her. "Don't you go running off to your boss and be a tattletale. I wanna play with his magic first. Then you guys get him."

"No one is playing with my brother." Thor growled menacingly. Natasha didn't even flinch, just coolly tossed her phone onto the couch beside Loki while Tony backed off, hands in the air. "Whoa, whoa, big guy, no bad intentions. Hey, we could even use that as an exchange! He teaches us the theory of magic, and we provide shelter for him. How about that?"

"The theories of magic are too complex for your mortal minds to comprehend." Loki's voice was muffled by the cushion he had over his face. "Your brains might just burst."

"Brother!" Thor sighed.

"Well, _I_ won't burst, at least." Bruce said, mostly to save Thor. "I would only turn bigger."

Loki turned pale at the mention of Bruce turning bigger and groaned, shutting up after that. Instead, he grabbed Natasha's phone and flipped it open, fingers dancing over the keys almost as if he had done it all his life, even though Tony was sure that Loki had never seen a cell phone before, much less a touch screen one. He doubted that Loki would last ten seconds with it before it ended up destroyed. And that was giving him credit. Thor's barely lasted two seconds.

Exactly one minute and fifty three seconds later, Director Fury rang Tony.

"What's up?" Tony answered cheerfully, only to be rewarded with screaming that nearly busted his eardrums.

_TONY STARK WHAT DO YOU THINK YOU ARE DOING!? YOU ARE ALREADY IN TROUBLE WITH SHIELD AND NOW YOU GO AROUND HACKING INTO OUR DATABASES AND STEALING ALL OF OUR DATA! ALL OF IT! I AM NOT SAVING YOU FROM THE COUNCIL THIS TIME!_

"Wait, what?" Tony muttered, holding the phone as far away as he could from his ear. "So you finally detected the bug I put in three weeks ago?"

_We detected that a long time ago! _The Director fumed. _And we've just been feeding you false information just to keep you off but now you plant a __**new**__ one?! And you actually got the important information this time!_

"Well, unless I planted it when I was drunk…" Tony trailed off. Natasha looked unconcerned, though she was smirking. Clint was busy glaring at Loki who was now gazing intently at the screen of the phone, completely oblivious to his surroundings. Steve was busy trying to reason with Thor so that he wouldn't destroy the 'alien object that holds the Man of Fury captive', and wasn't doing much of a job with him because Steve didn't understand much about it himself. Bruce raised an eyebrow at Tony, who was now desperately pleading his case with the furious director.

"I swear I don't know anything about it! I swear to God above! I really have no memory of it!"

_You have no memory of what you did three minutes and twenty six seconds ago? _Fury asked sarcastically. _Oh, sure, cause you're a genius! Even when now we're still working to get that goddamn thing out of our system and it's putting up quite a fight! They've traced the signal to your tower-_

"LOKI!" Clint had an arrow at Loki's throat for a moment, and Loki, startled, dropped the phone where it cracked open and the battery dropped out along with the memory card. Loki remained calm, slender fingers reaching up to shield his eyes from the tip of the arrow. Thor growled and Natasha sighed, picking up Tony's dropped phone. Bruce just shrugged like he'd been expecting it, and Tony just gawped. "You-you-hacked SHIELD's firewall within a minute and a half of touching a phone? This is so re-defining my definition of a genius!"

"A wall of fire? In SHIELD? Then the Man of Fury and the Son of Coul is in danger! We have to save them! These devices are truly dangerous if Loki can use them to make a wall of fire in his weakened state!" Thor roared, lifting Mjolnir. "Loki, undo the damage immediately!"

_Wait, Loki?! _Fury demanded. Tony cursed himself for not putting the phone on mute in time. Now SHIELD would get Loki first. _Thor, explain this immediately!_

"Loki is in need of your help." Thor yelled in the direction of the phone, and Tony smirked as he imagined the Director holding the phone away from himself as Tony did just now. Then Thor turned to Loki and chided, "Loki, you cannot expect them to help you if you do not cooperate and go around burning people with your magic, even though it is restrained by I know not what."

"It's restrained?" Clint asked, arrow moving threateningly closer towards Loki's right eye.

"Yes yes yes!" Loki cried in alarm, flinching away from the arrow tip, sinking down even further into the soft cushions.

"Get away from my brother, Eye of Hawk!" Thor roared, hefting Mjolnir. "My brother is sick!"

"I'm not moving unless ordered to." Clint said, very calmly.

_Barton. _Fury felt like he had to intervene. Even if he couldn't see the situation, he was still in charge. Sigh. _Thor. Do I have your word that Loki is unable to hurt anyone now?_

"I assure you that my best efforts shall be taken!" Thor promised, glaring threateningly at the agent. "Can Loki go if the Man of Iron shows you the blood test?"

_That would help your brother's case, but no promises._ Fury sighed. _Wait, when did Stark get Loki's blood?!_

"Thor sent it here. I did him and Asgard a favor." Tony retorted in his defense. "Besides, they prove that something _is _wrong about Loki. The energy levels-"

_Quit your rambling, Stark. Send them._

"Right away, sir." Tony smirked, punching a button on another phone he fished out of his back pocket. Then he whispered to Loki, "Say, wanna be partners on hacking SHIELD?"

Loki smiled weakly as the arrow was finally removed. "Deal, Stark."

Natasha finally spoke up. "Whatever you two are planning, this is not going to end up well."

That just about summed it up. Things didn't go well. For SHIELD and the Council, anyway. Tony lived in bliss and glee while Loki had something to occupy him while he wasn't delirious or in a coma. Thor, well, was just happy that his brother was happy. Bruce was just about ready to burst with delight with Loki teaching him most of the magical formulas, even if true to Loki's word, he didn't understand most of them. Natasha and Clint just skulked around, silent shadows making sure everything was alright. Pepper was slightly alarmed by the new arrivals, or guests, in the tower, but managed it fairly well. After all, she was the CEO of Stark Industries, and she would have to.

* * *

_Two weeks later._

"Where's Thor?" Bruce's voice was low, and worried.

"I don't know. Where did that guy get to when we need him?" Tony, for once, had a serious expression on his face.

"Just when we finally find out what's causing this illness and can't stop it." Bruce moaned, looking over to where Loki's limbs still twitched on the bed, but otherwise the raven-haired prince was still perfectly still and deathly pale. There were no signs of life.

Jarvis interjected, "Sir, I believe Mr. Odinson has gone out to buy some painkillers for his brother. He has asked me for directions to the best pharmacy in town."

"Where is it?" Tony asked quickly.

"Mandy's Pharmacy, I believe." Jarvis replied smoothly. "Should I contact him?"

"How?" Bruce asked while Tony dashed off to fit on his suit.

"By his phone, Mr. Banner."

Tony was preparing for flight already. "Don't bother, Jarvis. I think he smashed it when it broadcasted a Green Day tune when I called him the last time. He said that it was an abomination."

Bruce grimaced. "Isn't going to get him in your Iron Man suit a bit of…overkill?"

Loki gave a particularly loud scream at that moment, throwing up that instant. Bruce rushed over to roll him onto his side so that he wouldn't choke on the bright blue liquid that was flowing out his mouth. Tony grimaced. "Yeah, in that situation I would call it underkill."

And he took off, doing a couple cartwheels for the sake of the people watching below.

Bruce looked despairingly at Loki who was now shaking like a leaf. "Gamma radiation." He murmured. "It gave me the biggest curse and blessing at the same time, and now it gives you a curse and blessing too. Typical. I should have figured it out before."

Loki couldn't respond to those words as the liquid started to seep out from his eyes and nose as well.

"Thor…" Was the only word he managed before he passed out again.

* * *

**_I swear, you guys are spoiling me. Every time I open my email account I would find more favorites and follows. Reviews are rarer, but still, you make my day. Thank you so much!_**


	4. The Source

_**Response to reviews:**_

_**Just me (Guest): Wow, thanks for the review! Thank you so much! I'm glad you like the story so far. I was worried that some people might say that I'm not creative. That's not the case, it's just that after I had the idea I found out that it wasn't only me. Guess that great minds think alike, eh? And thank you again for telling me about those awesome series. I can't seem to stop reading them right now!**_

_**TakedaEmo: Oh wow, thanks! I was scared that the two of them might be acting OOC, with all the overly emotional stuff I'm inserting in there. Thanks!**_

_**Pallyndrome: Well, nothing in particular. He was just hacking around for fun. **_

* * *

_Salty Ice Crystals_

_Inquiries and Misgivings_

_Chapter Four: The Source_

* * *

"_We will make you long for something as sweet as pain."_

_-The Avengers, the Other to Loki._

* * *

"It's the gamma radiation." Bruce was speaking so fast that even Steve's enhanced hearing almost couldn't pick up on it. However, the rest seemed to understand the terms Bruce was using to describe Loki's current situation.

"The Chitauri must have forced some kind of slow-acting poison into him. We don't know what it does yet, and I'd rather not. Anyway, after being exposed to some gamma radiation on Earth, or Midgard as they call it, the poison had some kind of reaction and refused to stay in Loki's body anymore, instead forcing its way out. It's supposed to be a good thing for Loki, except that most of the poison is already melded into Loki's bloodstream and system, which means that in the process of getting all the bad things out, those cells keeping Loki alive and healthy are getting flushed out too. We can only hope that, now having identified the problem, Asgard, which in Thor's words are centuries more advanced than us, can find out how to cure this." Bruce finished in one breath. The other Avengers (minus Thor, Tony just hacked into the advertisement boards and left a message for Thor there, nothing too revealing before returning) just stared.

Finally, Natasha asked logically. "If they're centuries more advanced than us, then why could we find out the source of the trouble before they could? And what chance do they have of curing Loki if they couldn't even find out what's wrong in the first place?"

Clint interrupted, "The question should be, why are we even helping him in the first place?"

"Everyone deserves a second chance, Agent Barton." Steve tried to reason.

"He took over my mind!" Clint shot back.

No one could really argue with that unless they really wanted an arrow through their eye, seeing that Clint's hand was already dangerously placed on his bow, so no one stepped in to defend Loki.

Natasha put one hand on Clint's back, trying to placate him. The archer took several deep breaths before finally allowing himself to relax completely. Then only did Steve deem it safe enough to speak. "Clint, I know that we can't understand what you feel, but listen…Loki may have been controlled too. He feels the same as you except that he gets more blame and none of us believe him. Please don't tell me that I'm the only one to notice his eye color."

"What about it?" Tony asked, eyebrow raised. Oh, how he loved challenging Captain America.

"Well, think about it. What's his eye color when he was here the past few days?"

The team looked at each other. They didn't even know the eye color of someone who had lived with them for the past two weeks. Not even Natasha and Clint, who had the best observation skills, just because they simply didn't care.

Tony cleared his throat uncomfortably. "Well, his eyes were mostly shut while he was having his fits, and the lighting was bad plus he decided to stay in the shadows most of the time."

Steve sighed. "Look, his eyes are green. Now what color were his eyes during the battle in New York?" He said, with the tone of explaining something to a kindergartener.

"…blue?" Bruce tried, and received a nod in return. Bruce really didn't recall much from the battle, since he spent most of it in Hulk-form, but when they sent Loki back to Asgard, Loki had lifted his head to look at them, and they were a dirty blue green, almost like a polluted sea. But now he knew that they were the purest green one could ever hope for…it could only mean that it had been blue before.

"Whoa, wait. Does that mean that the Tesseract is controlling him too? Just like Katniss here?" Tony asked.

"Don't call me after that heroine in Hunger Games!" Clint shot Tony a dirty look.

"Fine, Legolas." Tony smirked.

Clint facepalmed. "And not that elf archer in Lord of the Rings! For heaven's sake, I don't even _look_ like him!"

"Robin Hood it is then~" Tony practically sang. Clint growled in frustration and Steve sighed again. So much for getting their attention. "Look, guys, we can work out the nicknames later. So the main point is, Loki has a very high possibility of being controlled then. So I suggest that we should treat him at least a little better so that we don't rub salt onto the wound. _If_ my theory is correct, we don't want to inflict punishment on an innocent."

Natasha nodded in agreement. Clint thought for a moment, then nodded firmly. Being controlled was _not_ the best experience, and to be blamed for what you don't even remember was sickening. Bruce agreed too, and Tony only agreed after ordering Jarvis to pull up various video feeds to confirm it. Steve naturally was in, since it was originally his idea.

Just then, Thor returned. With thunder and lightning for dramatics.

"The old man in the crispy chicken advertisement says that you require my presence immediately." Thor boomed. "For what, may I inquire?"

Clint snorted. "Seriously, Tony, you hacked into the Kentucky Fried Chicken advertisements?"

"What?" Tony defended himself. "That was the most common advertisement and Thor has a better chance of seeing it!"

"Well, Loki may have taken a turn for the worst but we have discovered the source of the trouble." Bruce said over the noise of the archer and the inventor bickering. He briefly explained his theory to Thor. "Do you want to come and see Loki? Maybe soothe him? He was sleeping when I left him. With a really high fever."

Thor nodded and followed Bruce down the corridor, his footsteps being unnaturally lighter than usual. Bruce could only suppose that he didn't want to disturb his brother's rest, and instinctively softened his own footsteps too.

"Here." Bruce pushed open the door. Loki was still sleeping, but he'd vomited a bit more after Bruce had left. This time, the liquid was tinged with blood. Dummy was chirruping, dismayed at the new mess, by Loki's side, but no one took notice of it. Instead, Thor rushed to Loki's side, shoving the robot away. He knelt beside his brother, pressing a kiss to his dry forehead and brushed some hair away.

_It's time Loki got a haircut,_ he thinks. Bruce left the room quietly. The question of whether Asgard could help would have to wait.

He returned to the living room, where Tony was now lamenting the loss of his newly repaired windows.

"I should build a landing pad for Thor too." He complained, gesturing at the glass scattered all over the floor, where another robot was vacuuming it all up. "At this rate it's going, I'm going to be very poor soon. Those windows were supposed to be bullet-proof."

"You should invent a Mjolnir-proof one." Natasha smirked, lifting up her legs as the robot ran under them.

Tony brightened up. "Hey! Good idea! I'm going to work on it when Reindeer Games is outta my tower!"

"I don't think he is going to be anytime soon." Clint said gloomily.

Bruce entered the room, closing the door softly behind him. However, despite the lack of noise he made, every head swiveled to face him. Bruce shifted uncomfortably with the attention.

"So what did Thor say?" Natasha asked finally, curious.

"Well, I took him to Loki after explaining our discoveries, then he went into protective older brother mode and ignored me for all I was worth." Bruce said. "Ask him yourself later."

Tony raised an eyebrow. "Are you copying my cool style of talking?"

Bruce blushed as he recounted his words. "Well, since we're Science Bros, it's only natural that I pick up something from you. Like your speech patterns."

* * *

_An hour later._

The Avengers (exempting Thor, _again_) were gathered in the kitchen, eating pizza, Tony's favorite. Natasha had cheese and pineapple, sharing it with Pepper. Tony would never understand girls and their meager appetites. Steve had chicken and pepperoni, something Bruce had ordered for him, since Steve was at a loss as to what is pizza. Bruce himself had ham and pineapples. Clint grabbed a slice from everyone's pizza, enjoying a multi-cuisine. Tony, though, had wanted to try something new. His pizza was the famous Mockba pizza, consisting of sardines, tuna, mackerel, salmon, and onions. It was really delicious.

For Thor, they had set aside at least a pizza of every flavor. Knowing Thor and his appetite, he would have no problem finishing it. Plus, Thor would have to share his portion with Loki. Not that Loki ate much anyway.

The kitchen door squeaked open.

"Dummy, oil it." Tony ordered, mouth still full of pizza. "Finally decided to join us, Thor?"

"Can you please stop mistaking me for my brother?" Loki sighed softly, moving into the kitchen and sitting down on the chair meant for Thor, just beside Tony. He would have sat by Bruce if he could, but Bruce was surrounded by Steve and Clint.

"Where's Thor?" Bruce asked, while Loki pried open the lid of the first pizza box of the many piled in front of him, his hands shaking slightly.

"He is sleeping. I did not wish to disturb his rest." Loki said, now eyeing the pizza doubtfully.

Tony leaned sideways, getting a better look at Loki. "Man, no offense, but you look like you need it more. And I haven't poisoned the pizza, go on and eat it!"

"Pizza?"

"Pizza." Clint confirmed, grinning. High and mighty as he acted, he was still confused by a piece of dough.

The dark haired prince took out a slice of the cheese and ham pizza, sniffing at it. Natasha bit back her laughter.

Steve decided to step in. "It's okay." He said gently. "I didn't know it before, but I still enjoyed it."

That was all the reassurance Loki needed. He bit into it, letting a little sauce dribble down his fingers before he wiped it away with a quick and efficient brush of his fingertips. "That was delicious."

"Understatement of the year." Tony muttered. "Pizza is heaven!"

"Overstatement of the year." Loki countered. "If pizza were heaven you would be all dead now."

"Fair point." Natasha let her grin slip through.

They continued to eat their pizza, exchanging the occasional banter and daily chatter. However, Steve noticed that Loki hadn't touch his pizza after eating the first slice.

"Loki, aren't you hungry?" he finally asked when Tony and Natasha were licking their fingers and Bruce and Clint were halfway through. Pepper still hadn't come home yet from work. After all, it was only seven.

Loki shook his head. "No, but thanks for asking."

Steve wasn't the only one who noticed. "Man, you only had a slice! That can't be enough for you. Look at how Thor eats."

Loki's eyes flashed. "Thor cannot always be the standard to measure me by."

"Ooh, touchy. But at least try another piece. Go on, you won't regret it. And get something in that stomach of yours. I can practically see the bones." Clint added his bit. After Thor had explained the possibilities of Loki being controlled just like him, Clint had done his best to act a little better around Loki.

"If you wish, then let it be so." Loki took another slice and started eating, though it looked like he was forcing himself to swallow.

When he was halfway through the slice, Natasha suddenly said, "Stop. Don't eat anymore. Puke on the floor if you like. Stark has dozens of cleaning robots anyway."

One doesn't have to be a master assassin and spy to see the signs. Loki dropped the pizza immediately, rolling off his chair and emptied his insides onto the floor rather violently. He continued to cough and gag even when they were pretty sure that there wasn't anything in him anymore.

Bruce went over to Loki and gently patted his back, which was still shaking. Slowly and painfully, Loki curled himself into a ball on the dirty kitchen floor, the taste of bile still lingering in his throat.

"Jarv. The scans." Tony ordered shortly.

"Right away, sir." Jarvis printed out the quickly taken scans and Dummy passed them to Tony, who in turn, muttering that he was not the doctor, passed them to Bruce.

"Oh god. His digestion system is all messed up." Bruce gasped, allowing Loki a look for himself at the piece of paper where there was red splashed over the part where his stomach and small intestine should be. The red indicated overly active virus movement and energy readings.

"Someone wake Thor. Now." Natasha ordered. Clint quickly scurried off in the direction of the room assigned to the brothers. Steve, wanting to at least do something, picked up Loki's slice of abandoned pizza and put it back neatly into the box and shut the lid, all the while looking concernedly at the now shaking trickster on the floor.

"Brother!"

There was no mistaking that tone. Thor burst into the room, furious. "You could have woken me, Loki! If not for the Eye of Hawk here,"

Barton coughed at the strange title.

Thor ignored him. "-now what happened?"

Tony seized the chance to explain to him what happened and finally brought up the question, "Say, with all your advanced science and all that, do you think Asgard can cure this?"

Thor's face fell. They dreaded the answer.

"I fear not. There is only one way, but we have no way of doing that."

"What is that way?" Natasha quickly asked. There may still be hope yet.

"By making sure that the poison has never gone into him." Thor answered grimly.

Tony threw up his arms. "We can't possibly go back in time!"

"In fact, that is possible." Loki said from the floor. Bruce was startled, and said, "But that would defy all the laws of physics-"

"Not if one of the Norns reversed the time on me only."

_To be continued… _

* * *

_**So there is a way…but would the Norns help them? How would it be done? Would the universe collapse since they will be violating one of the laws that it stood on to exist?**_


	5. Plans

**Response to reviews:**

**TakedaEmo120: Haha, TQ! As for your second opinion, the first part of this chapter on Fury is specially written for you. And the cure for Loki would be in the next story. This particular one is about to end soon.**

**Justme(Guest): I would love to say that too, except that if the universe collapses Loki still dies. And about that ruined pizza experience…let's see what I can do to fix it when Loki's healed. Thanks for your review!**

**Lokiisawesome: Well, what are Norns? I have explained in the best I could in this chapter, through Loki.**

* * *

_Salty Ice Crystals_

_Inquiries and Misgivings_

_Chapter Five: Plans_

Fury smashed his fourth television.

"ANTHONY STARK!"

Agent Phil Coulson sighed.

He didn't even want to know how Tony Stark managed to annoy Fury with a KFC advertisement.

* * *

"Turn back time itself. Defiling the laws the universe is made of. Limiting the change to one person only. God, my brain may just burst." Tony paced the living room restlessly. "This is practically an open challenge to Science!"

"Well, if your brain bursts it might just be a good thing for Midgard." Loki grinned, lounging on a couch and ransacking Tony's bar, playing around with the drinks, mixing them together. Tony eagerly awaited the moment where the chemicals finally react and burn Loki. The guy wasn't helping and was more than happy to add to the churning mess that was Tony's mind.

Clint and Natasha had excused themselves to report their newest findings to SHIELD, and Thor had gone back to Asgard to seek permission from his father. Bruce was back down in the lab, playing around with the new information and samples of the strange blue liquid, and Steve had excused himself to draw the New York City. That left Tony in the living room with Loki, since his mind was still having trouble accepting this step beyond the boundaries of Science.

Aliens? Sure, Science already held that possibility. The rainbow bridge? Science had its theories, and had its own name for it, the Einstein-Rosen bridge. Magic? It equals Science, but only in a more complicated way, nothing more. Summoning lightning? A bit of stretch, but with the right tools and conducts, it could be done. But tampering with Time itself? No way.

"With Science, there are countless and limitless possibilities open to us. It is only how much it would affect the universe that the laws were built. Oh, and to spare your mortal minds the pains of trying to comprehend how it is done." Loki took pity on Tony and explained a little, though he still couldn't resist the chance to poke insults at the intelligence of humans.

Tony huffed. "Spare me the insults, Daddy Issues."

"What's with that new nickname?" The dark haired prince raised an eyebrow, acting casual even though the nickname hit a little too close to home for him.

"Well, you're practically the living embodiment of it. You should be the God of Daddy Issues as well too." Tony grinned, riling Loki up.

"You insufferable mortal-" Loki growled.

Tony raised his hands in surrender. "OK, OK, I get it, no need for threats. Touchy subject. Daddy Issues officially banned. Jarvis, make a note, okay?"

"Done, sir. Shall I add it to the list of things you shouldn't say to keep your alive?"

Tony blinked. "Wait, when did I create such a list?"

"You did it when the alcohol levels in your body were higher than average, sir."

"To put it simply, you were drunk." Loki stated, grinning. He would have high fived Jarvis if he could.

Tony shot the mischief maker a dirty look before reaching over to grab the drink Loki had mixed together. It promptly shot flames into his face, leaving him with singed eyebrows and a blackened face.

Loki snorted, grinning.

Tony groaned and got a mirror.

"My perfect eyebrows!"

Loki smirked.

* * *

"Father, please tell me you do not require more proof than this." Thor muttered anxiously, pacing the throne room while Odin skimmed the reports written in Bruce's careful hand, the wording precise and the terms simple.

Odin finished reading and folded the papers in half. "I have suspected, but this is absolute proof. You have my leave. Inform your mother of this quest before you return. She has worried enough."

"She may worry more if I tell, Father." Thor jested, grinning.

Odin gave Thor a knowing smile. "With you two together, it is impossible not to worry."

The corners of Thor's mouth quirked upward. "As you wish, Father."

Thor met Frigga just outside the throne room. Apparently she had heard most of it.

"You will be careful, won't you?" She asked anxiously, looking over her son. Her precious son, all so grown up and strong. He even had a lady to court now.

"I will, Mother, it is just that trouble usually finds us first." Thor gave a short bark of laughter. "Do we have your blessings?"

Frigga pressed a kiss to his forehead. "When have I ever refused? Send my love to Loki for me, won't you?"

"Thank you, Mother. I will." Thor kissed her cheek in return. "I bid you farewell. Loki awaits on Midgard with my Avenger friends."

Once Thor had disappeared down the passageway out of sight, Frigga found herself praying again. _Oh, please, please let her beloved sons return safe and sound._

* * *

"Unusual signs of aerial activity have been detected, Director." Agent Maria Hill reported to Fury, who had calmed down and ordered a new television, apologizing profusely to Agent Phil Coulson who had to order a new TV with secure lines again. "It is directly above the Bifrost site."

"Monitor it." Fury didn't even look up from his paperwork. "If it's Thor, leave him be unless he does something out of character. If it's something else, notify me."

"Of course, Director." Agent Hill left the office.

"Brother, Father has given us his permission and Mother gives us her blessings and sends you her love." Thor boomed upon entering Stark Tower via the landing pad Tony had built.

"Sir, Mr. Stark and Mr. Silvertongue are currently on the 2nd floor and are unable to hear you. Shall I convey the message to them for you?" Jarvis's smooth voice said.

Thor contemplated for a moment. "No, Lord Jarvis. I would prefer to send my Mother's love to Loki myself. My thanks for the offer."

"I would prefer it if you left off the Lord, Mr. Odinson. I am just a very intelligent system and referred to constantly as Mr. Stark's butler, or an A.I. Mr. Silvertongue knows of your presence and demands that you-"

Jarvis's voice fizzled away, instead replaced by Loki's bored tone.

"Stark's systems are really easy to hack, as you call it. Thor, get down here. I don't care if the Allfather doesn't give us permission."

Thor looked around, unsure whether he should reply or not.

"Thor? Hello? Are you there?"

Thor doubted whether Loki could hear him if he just spoke into the air like Tony usually did, and he spotted one of the gadgets the others use to contact someone. He picked that up and spoke into the mouthpiece. "Loki, I'm coming now. Father did give us permission."

By then, Tony, watching the security feed Loki had pulled up, was laughing so hard that he almost couldn't breathe. He snatched the microphone over from Loki and spoke into it. "Dude, get down here. I think we have to give you a crash course on how Jarvis works."

"No crash course can work, Stark." Loki rolled his eyes, rewriting Jarvis's program behind his back.

"Hey!" Tony noticed and remembered that he should be mad at Loki for hacking into his baby. He grabbed his own phone and reactivated the firewalls and with horror noticed that the program was being rewritten. "LOKI! Those should be impossible to get through!"

"Define impossible." Loki smirked, fingers now a blur on Natasha's phone. He still haven't given it back to her.

And so when Thor finally figured out how to work the elevator and found which one of the numerous rooms they were in, he entered to the two of them having their heads bent over their respective devices, fingers a blur as they worked on Odin knows what.

Thor cleared his throat, trying to catch their attention.

Loki looked up, although his eyes still darted to the screen where his fingers were still working. "Yes? So what did the Allfather say?"

"You can call him Father, you know." Thor mumbled. "Anyway, he gave us his permission and Mother gives us her blessings and sends you her love."

Loki smiled at that. "Next time you get to see Mother, tell her that I love her too."

Tony wrinkled his nose. "Ew! Stop that before it gets cheesy!"

The sorcerer grabbed the opportunity to completely rewrite the program and added a few firewalls and antivirus programs of his own making. He grinned in triumph at Thor just as Jarvis spoke again, "Mr. Stark, do you wanna go for a drink? You know, I'm pretty sure that I can't get drunk…or am I already?"

Cue a giggle. Tony's mouth dropped open in horror and shock and he dived in a mad scramble for his phone. "Fix Jarvis now!"

Loki just smirked and rose to his feet gracefully, even if he did almost fall over once he was upright.

"You know, Mr. Stark, that girl you met yesterday had a really big *!#$%&!..."

Jarvis was rambling now and Thor chuckled, covering Loki's ears. "You should not know those things, Brother. Not yet."

"Oh please! He was the one that wrote it in!"

Loki turned and gave him a really innocent look. "Why, Stark, I just programmed Jarvis to act like you when you were drunk. What does it mean, anyway?

"Man of Iron, please shut off your butler." Thor requested. "Loki may have tried to take over a world, and faced unspeakable things with the Chitauri, but he has no need to hear such…profanities. Such things are not meant for his tender ears."

Clint, upon entering the room, heard the conversation and snorted. "How old is he? He must be ahead of us by thousands of years."

"True that may be," Thor answered just as Tony finally broke through Loki's firewalls with a loud whoop and quickly proceeded to restore Jarvis. "But as a side effect of our immortality, our cells tire slower and thus our aging process is slowed. By your standards, my brother should be around seventeen."

Tony dropped his phone. "What?!"

Clint Barton actually dropped his bow and quiver of arrows.

Thor just looked confused, and deeming it safe, removed his hands from Loki's ears.

"Let me get this straight. This super, half crazy, tortured, dying, self hating and boatful of daddy issues, famed Liesmyth, renowned Silvertongue, dethroned King of Asgard and basically tried suicide, this guy, is just seventeen?" Tony asked, not believing his ears.

"Thor, then exactly how old are you?" Clint asked.

"Well, I am twenty-one. Ruling age to be precise." Thor answered.

"…Jarvis, record this." Tony managed. "Director Fury is going to be horrified when he discovers that Loki still has a very long time to terrorize Earth."

"Certainly, Sir. May I also suggest that you start forming your plans, since the Captain, the Doctor and the Agent Romanoff are now heading down here?"

"You already suggested it." Tony muttered, whipping out paper and a pen from behind the sofa.

"You keep papers and pens behind your sofa?" Steve asked as he walked in.

"Yeah, I put them almost everywhere so that if I get a genius idea in the middle of the bath or whatever, I can always write it down." Tony shrugged.

Thor looked horrified. "My deepest apologies, Friend Stark!"

"What?" Tony gulped.

"I…I may have mistaken your paper for the toilet paper as you call it and…"

"Stop. Stop. Stop right there." Tony mimicked fainting. "I think I may have a few great ideas written on that too…oh, never mind. My genius mind will be able to recall it again someday."

Natasha walked in. "Don't worry, I remember them. In fact, they are already in SHIELD's case files. You can get them from Director Fury."

"You spied around my stuff?!" Tony moaned. "The long arm of SHIELD, damn it."

Bruce was the last to enter the room. Looking around, he saw everyone already there. "Oh. Jarvis told me Thor's back, so, I guess, we start planning?"

"OK. First, just to get started, Loki, tell us more about these Norns."

"Well. Norns are female entities that weave fate. They are the equivalent of your Greek myths' Fates. They rule the destiny of all of us, they are very, very powerful, and their magic is beyond even our comprehension. If anyone has the power to turn back time and limit it to only one person, it would be them." Loki explained.

"OK, next, where do you usually find them?" Bruce took the next question as Tony furiously jotted down notes.

"They do their work at the foot of Yggdrasil, where they can see all with just a tilt of their heads." It was Thor who answered this time. "By the well of Urdr, and they have to sprinkle the water over the tree roots every day, or it would wilt and die. To keep the world balanced despite the laws being violated, I believe that we will have to pour more water on the day the spell is cast."

Natasha frowned, leaning forward. "They? Which one do you have to consult?"

"I believe it is Vervandi. She is the embodiment of time itself, and controls the present and the future. We can ask her to reverse that." Loki told them. He really had done his research. "However, something like this will require something in exchange. Blood, a life, or a realm. Something else that holds equal value."

"Easy." Steve said, surprisingly. "Just give her that poison once it is drawn out of your system. I am sure that she would be intrigued by that. The question is how do you get to her?"

Loki jumped at that. "I am skilled at navigating the hidden pathways. Perhaps-"

Thor cut him off with a stern look. "No, Loki. You might just get us lost." Noticing the hurt look on Loki's face, he added, "And it might tax your body and magic too much."

"So, how are you going to get there?" Tony asked. "I have one or two inventions that may help, but they're still in the testing period and I want to be there. Oh wait, you can just take me along. That's it. I won't budge. You're taking me on a tour around the world and it's final."

"Is he drunk?" Loki asked no one in particular.

Tony rolled his eyes. "He is here and listening to you, idiot."

Thor looked genuinely concerned. "I think his mind is not in the right place. He is talking about himself in third person."

Natasha and Clint both snorted.

"You, my dear friend." Tony pointed at Thor. "Need to learn about Midgardian slang."

They spent the rest of the day planning and plotting the best approach and route, which was difficult since they had close to none information. Tony insisted that he go, and Bruce tagged along, mostly because he wanted to make sure that they would be okay and partly because he was a Science Bro, after all, and he had to admit that he was curious. No amount of persuading would make Director Fury allow Clint or Natasha to go, but he sent Steve instead since SHIELD really needed the information and Steve, being such a good boy, would never disobey orders. Loki only had two vomiting fits that day, and even though there was significantly more blood than usual, it was still, nevertheless, not a big decline.

So in the end it was decided that they use Tony's technology to travel to the roots of Yggdrasil, and only Steve, Thor, Bruce, Loki and Tony would go.

Their plans were set.

Time to get moving.

Let time be turned.

And their journey starts.

* * *

**Oh, guys, I really can't believe that I'm now really making headway into this series. The framework is set, albeit still a bit unstable, but still, it is in place. The next story in this series will be called 'Time'. Stay tuned and thank you!**


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